Fruubie
A website designed to help individuals connect with others in their local community in order to share their extra homegrown produce and reduce food waste.
Problem Background
Our customer is someone who enjoys gardening but has a hard time figuring out what to do with their excess produce.
Food waste has major environmental impacts, it causes the resources used to grow to go to waste and contribute to greenhouse emissions. We at Frubbie are trying to tackle this problem on a household level by addressing the needs of home gardeners. Many people enjoy gardening as a hobby and want to eat healthier.
However, after each harvest, they are left with an abundance of homegrown produce and are unsure what to do with it. Extra produce is usually wasted because it is not used.
The problem now is that there is no effective solution for home gardeners to advertise and distribute excess homegrown produce. There are many home gardeners nearby who have extra produce, but not everyone is aware of this. As a result, we are creating a design solution to connect the community while reducing food waste.
Problem Space - Our customer is someone who enjoys gardening but has a hard time figuring out what to do with their excess produce
By providing a platform for individuals to share their excess homegrown produce, they will reach a broader community of people who will put it to better use, resulting in less food waste.
By solving the problem, we are trying to accomplish:
- The extra homegrown produce will reach a wider community
- Reduce food waste
- Everyone in the community can enjoy healthy and organic produce
- Some people may have difficulty approaching their neighbors for various reasons, and the platform provides a safe place for them to post their extra homegrown produce
- People in need of food can claim it without feeling obligated to return the favor
Research Insights & User Pain Points
- As a home gardener, I want to share my extra produce with more people, so that it doesn't go to waste.
- As an environmental activist, I want to find locally grown produce near me, so I can reduce my carbon footprint
- As a vegan person, I want to find accessible organic produce near me, so I can eat more healthily.
Feedback
The concept is really impressive. The login and register page is very easy to navigate. Adding a search bar for addresses would be helpful, and the small blurb on how to navigate using the map would come in handy. Measurement criteria could be made simpler - you can have 1 branch of cilantro, 3 limes, etc but you don't really weigh oranges, on the other hand, they could be in (ounces, lbs, kgs, etc.) or just numbers (3 oranges).
The homepage is clear but it needs some description. Your location on the post after sharing the post doesn't make sense. Search your location can also use API, One less step for the user. It would be nice to have the pop-up screen actually on the individual page so I don't have to click a lot. What is the growing condition? It can mean a lot and would be helpful to know if I am buying a plant.
Landing on the Solution
A possible solution will be a platform for the users to connect with others by posting and claiming extra homegrown produce in their local community. This solution will require two users.
User A can share their extra homegrown produce with others by posting it on the platform. This will help user A in reaching out to a larger community that may be interested in their excess homegrown produce. User B can use the platform to claim any excess produce in their local area. This will help user B in saving money, eating healthier, and connecting with their neighbors. The solution will help to reduce food waste and connect users with their community.
Iterative Design Learnings
After we showcased our prototype to the users again, we learned that there is no perfect solution and we must listen to our users and always iterate the designs.
Implementation Details
Technical implementation
- Where is it hosted? Fruubie will be hosted on Heroku
What is your tech stack?
- Language: Python
- Framework: Flask
- Database: MongoDB
Technical challenges
- What was the hardest part of development? Aside from scoping being the hardest part, adding Google authentication and implementing geolocation would come next.
- Does your app have any scaling issues? None.
What are some key takeaways?
- As it is difficult to work remotely, we made the effort to have time set aside to meet up periodically, allowing us to have the space to collaborate and update each other on our progress.
Future Steps
After doing our user interviews, we decided our product has a lot of scopes and the same lot of work to do. Collectively as a team, we have decided to work on it in the future and make it a household name when it comes to giving away free produce in the local community. We have a long way to go but we have just gotten started.
Learnings
Product Manager Learnings:
Utkarsh Bansal
- It was my first time in a PM environment, it taught me a lot when it comes to working with different teams, managing your and team’s expectations
- Communication is the key in my role, without which this journey could have gone sideways
- Navigating through hiccups was made easy by keeping track of our weekly tasks and ensuring those goals are met
Designer Learnings:
Trang Nguyen
- It was my first time working on a project with a Product Manager and Developers, and I realized that communication is the most important soft skill a Designer should possess. I learned how to communicate with my team members and articulate my design decisions.
- I also learned early on how to communicate with Developers in order to understand technical constraints and design a solution around them.
- This program taught me many valuable lessons and soft skills that I will use as a Product Designer, and I am grateful to have been a part of team Fruubie and Cohort 11.
Designer Learnings:
Jo Sturdivant
- Adapting to an Established Team: Joining the team in week 6 of 8 was challenging, as I had to quickly adapt to existing workflows, dynamics, and goals. This mirrors real-world situations where you often integrate into teams mid-project, and flexibility is essential.
- Work-Blocking for Efficiency: With only two weeks to complete the project, I learned the importance of a structured work-blocking system. This approach allowed me to manage my time effectively and meet deadlines under pressure.
- Making Data-Driven Design Decisions: Unlike my past projects, I had to rely on research conducted by others. This was a valuable experience in using pre-existing data to guide design decisions, helping me focus on the core insights without starting from scratch.
Developer Learnings:
Samuel Madrigal
- It was my first time working with new people I’ve never worked with before, not being able to know what their ways of thinking are or knowing what they are capable and incapable of are something that I never thought id consider until now.
- This was such a great learning experience and would do it all over again if I could. This program opened the doors to so many other ways of thinking that id never thought id think about so I will be forever grateful to be a part of this program.
Developer Learnings:
Vanady Beard
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As the back-end developer, I learned how important it is to create efficient and reliable systems that support the entire application. This experience also taught me the importance of optimising the database and ensuring the backend is scalable and easy to maintain.
Developer Learnings:
Stephen Asiedu
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As a back-end developer, I've come to understand the importance of being familiar with various database systems and modules. This knowledge enables me to build diverse applications and maintain versatility in my work. I've also learned that the responsibility for making the right choices rests on my shoulders, guided by my best judgement.
Developer Learnings:
Jeremy Gonzales
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- First time working in a cross-functional team
- Through teamwork and collaboration built a working product
- Furthered understanding of Flask and Python
Developer Learnings:
Maurquise Williams
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- Process of Creating an MVP: Developing a Minimum Viable Product (MVP) taught me how to focus on delivering core functionalities balancing between essential features and avoiding scope creep.
- Collaboration in a Real-World Tech Setting: This experience taught me how to collaborate efficiently in a fast-paced tech environment, keeping the team aligned and productive, even while working remotely across time zones.
- Sharpening Critical Thinking and Problem-Solving Skills: This experience honed my ability to think critically and solve problems efficiently. By tackling challenges and finding quick solutions, I sharpened my decision-making and troubleshooting skills in a dynamic, real-world setting.
Developer Learnings:
Jeremiah Williams
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All in all this experience was very awesome I learned that in coding with others being transparent is key
Developers Learnings:
Justin Farley
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I learned how important communication is when working with a team. Communication provides understanding, advice, ideas, and much more. While working with the product team, I’ve found that communication keeps everything flowing smoothly. Working with a team also showed me that every member brings something different to the table and we all have to work together in order to align and meet our end goal.
Full Team Learning
Even though all of us are at different stages of life, we overcame multiple hurdles including schedules and managing expectations between each other but the key ingredient which made us reach the ending was communication. The learning curve was steep but the people made the journey easier.